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Scaleway Elements IoT Hub

Scaleway Elements IoT Hub Overview

Scaleway Elements IoT Hub is a platform for exchanging messages between connected devices and give them access to cloud services.

This platform takes the hassle out of fleet communication by providing a solution that is robust, easy-to-use, and scalable. It is based at its core on an industry standard, the MQTT protocol, that connected devices use to exchange messages through a central broker. Taking this system one step further, the platform also allows connected devices to interact with cloud services using these same messages.

Core Concepts

MQTT: MQTT is the standard protocol used to exchange messages. It is a publisher/subscriber protocol that is very lightweight, even for the smallest micro-controllers. It works pretty much the same as a web forum: when a client publishes a message under a topic, all the clients which had subscribed to this topic get the message.

Hub: A Hub can be seen as an MQTT message broker that can be dedicated, highly-available, and scalable, and that integrates with Scaleway’s ecosystem. See IoT Hub.

Device: A Device can be seen as an MQTT client that exchanges messages with other Devices and cloud services through its Hub. It can very well be a physical device or a program. See IoT Hub Device.

Route: A Route is an integration with Scaleway’s ecosystem that provides Devices with access to cloud services. See IoT Hub Route.

Kickstart: A Kickstart is a regular Scaleway instance that has been pre-populated with an MQTT-ready application (eg a Grafana that displays MQTT stats). See IoT Hub Kickstart.

IoT Hub Operation Procedures

A Hub is the central piece to which Devices can connect to exchange messages, and by which they get access to cloud services.

Under the hood, a Hub acts as an MQTT broker, meaning devices use it to publish messages on topics or subscribe to them. On top of that, Hub Routes allow Devices to benefit from Scaleway’s ecosystem.

How to Create a Hub

In the IoT section of the side menu, click IoT Hub. If you do not have a Hub already created, the product presentation is displayed.

1 . Click Create a Hub. The creation page displays.

2 . Enter a name for your Hub:

3 . Choose the geographical region of the Hub. Currently IoT Hub is available in our Paris region, with other regions to follow:

4 . Choose a product plan for your Hub. There are currently 3 product plans for Hubs:

Shared plan: This is a cost-effective, straightforward plan. Good for proofs-of-concept or DIY projects. The price is kept low by sharing resources between users, but for that purpose it is forbidden to use MQTT features which will require memory (no messages with QoS1, QoS2, retained or will). This plan only supports a limited number of Devices per Hub.

Dedicated Plan: This plan offers dedicated resources for the Hub, which means more predictable performances and full support of the MQTT protocol.

HA Plan: Not only resources are dedicated to the Hub, but they are also replicated so that the broker is highly available. This setting is ideal for workloads that require greater robustness for their Hub.

5 . Click Create a Hub or Create a Hub and Add a Device.

If you want to add directly a first device to the hub, click Create a Hub and Add a Device and continue with the documentation IoT Hub - Devices